His heart had stuttered, wanting to stop pumping. He no longer had the resolve to live, feeling the will to breathe shattering into tiny pieces. His whole body felt cold, stiff, and painful. He wanted everything to stop.

'If only I was stronger...' was the only thing that circled his mind other than subconsciously knowing that he wished for death. Even when he know it was a useless thought, for there was nothing that could ever bring his family back ever again, all but shattered in just one night, he still thought of it. He couldn't stop thinking about it nor could he stop resenting the Capital Army, resenting fate, resenting himself.

(Just stop already.)

"Do you wish for power?" Caelum stiffen, feeling as though time had suddenly stopped. In fact, it somehow did. The men in his house (no longer the safe haven he owns) froze, the blood that stained the carpet seemed to stopped increasing.

Everything was silent.

He lifted his head just barely so he could see the two cloaked being floating, one in grey and another in pale blue and white. "Do you wish for the ability to judge someone's worth in living?" The white one said, closely followed by the one in grey, voice echoing. "Do you wish for the power to bring one to afterlife and decide their path?"

A part of Caelum wanted to die, to cease from existence, but another part of him screamed, screamed inside him to take revenge. It screamed at him to say yes and kill-

"Why me?" He asked instead, for he knew that these beings weren't human. He didn't felt the urge to freak out, however. He didn't know why, and he just had to ask. "Why me, of all people?"

"It is merely Fate's decision, it designed this path for you, for you to see and for you to balance the world. It is Fate's decision for you to be the Historian of the world." As though knowing what Caelum was thinking, the white one continued. "A Historian is a spectator, a judge and the one who records the world's event. A Historian is the outsider who watches over the three pillar of the world as it sways and regains balance. What you see shall be recorded, but what you shall experience may scar you."

"Selfless one, do you have the resolve to live?"

"Do you have the resolve to shoulder the burden of being a Historian in exchange for the powers we'd bestow you?"

Distantly, Caelum could hear the ghost sound of rattling chains, temperature dropping slightly. He had the answer right at the tip of his tongue, but the will to answer was barely there. Is it truly worth living for the sake of revenge, however? Is it truly worth living, for he should die just as how his family had?

Do he deserve the reason to continue living?

He swallowed. This was his punishment, for his sin. His punishment to repay his debts to his love ones. (Although, he knew that he wouldn't be able to repay even a single one.) He will take his punishment. He deserved it. He deserved to suffer for what he had put his family through.

(The first flame was lit inside him, unknown to the ginger yet as clear as daylight for the other two. The flame that would soon grow bigger until it made itself known to the world.)

"I do."

With that, the white one shifted closer to Caelum, hovering its hand over his forehead. "I, God of Judgement, gift you the ability to judge and to bring one to their downfall or to give a second chance. I gift you the ability to deliver punishments as you please." Judgement's hand glowed. Judgement moved back as the black one took its place, hovering its hand over Caelum's forehead as well.

"I, Death God, bless you with the ability to bring the once living to afterlife and the ability to decide the souls' path. To drift in nothingness forever, or to reincarnate, all is in your hands." Its hand glowed as well before it moved back. Death and Judgement loomed over for a moment before disappearing with parting words that would forever haunt Caelum.

"Do what you must, and what you wish, O' Selfless one. For the World and for yourself."

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Fitzgerald's eyes widen as he stumbled one step back. His hand involuntarily shook, staring at the ginger in disbelief.

Or rather, he was staring at the floating bullet in disbelief. Faint, orange-tinted waves rippled in the air in front of the ginger, almost invisible. A shiver ran down his spine when the man who knelt in front of him seemed to change. His aura, specifically. It wasn't just Fitzgerald who had felt the change, nor was it his imagination. Even his men had felt the shift. It was dull and insignificant just a few moments ago, so how did it suddenly changed into a deadly one? It was suffocating. It was petrifying.

His men yelped in surprise when the floating bullet exploded into dust, took their weapons out and pointed at the man on the floor just as they took a few steps back. They were panicking. They could tell that something was wrong, very wrong.

The man who had stepped on Caelum's back before suddenly choked and coughed out blood. He dropped his gun out of shock as he clutched onto his bulging throat. Fitzgerald could only stare in stunned horror as blood dripped out of the man's mouth, overflowing. The army man's eyes were bloodshot red as tears sprang out of it, clearly in pain. Only, it wasn't tears. It was blood.

His ears were bleeding as well as he gasped, drowning in blood. He was whimpering, or as much as he could with damaged vocal cords. His eyes met Fitzgerald's, just as his limbs started bulging, tearing through his clothes, lumps of flesh in imperfect size and shapes. His eyes were screaming in fright with only one message.

'Help!'

The man exploded. Blood and flesh splattered across the room, hitting almost every corner. Fitzgerald couldn't even turn away from that, frozen in place.

The rest of his men screamed of the devils and what-nots. Their fates were no better as they tried to escape, only to be dead the next second they took a step towards the door. Needles, sharp needles protruded from the ground and stabbed all of them. Blood spilled out of their wound as one of the men's inside somehow managed to slip out and splattered on the ground.

Fitzgerald couldn't do anything but stare at the carnage that happened in the span of a few minutes.

Caelum, who hadn't even move from his spot, shuffled. He pushed himself up, stumbling as he steadied himself. He looked up and Fitzgerald's legs trembled. Fitzgerald tried to put more distance between the two of them and ended up falling onto his back, shaking hard. He couldn't turn away from the ginger's eyes, couldn't tear his eyes of it.

Those dull blue orbs that lacked of light and rationality, staring down at him blankly. It was as though they could see through him and look at his soul.

"W-wait-" He crawled back, stuttering terribly. "P-please, wait-!" A needle protruded out of the ground and stabbed through his knee, the sharp tip poking out of the flesh. He screamed as pain tore through him. He clutched his right leg, writhing pitifully.

Caelum tilted his head in silence, watching with what seemed like curiosity. He waited until the man stopped screaming and took a step forward, crouching. His movement had set the other off as Fitzgerald whimpered, trashing as he tried to drag himself away from the ginger. It was a futile attempt with the needle holding him in place.

"N-no, please. Please don't kill me-"

His mouth clamped shut when the dull, metallic blue orbs darken. "Punishment;" His voice rang out just as his stood. The air stilled, Fitzgerald stopped breathing all together as his eyes widen. "Endless Suffering," He spasmed as he choked, mouth wide open in silent scream, writhing and contorting and jerking. All his muscle contracted and tensed all at once. "And Endless Hell."

Fitzgerald exploded into nothing.

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Realization slowly dawned Caelum as he stared into distance and the first thing he noticed was the strong stench of iron in the air and the dark red liquid that soaked his being. Light returned to his eyes as his hands that had curled up into tight fist loosen, registering what was in front of him. He looked around the massacre. He started trembling, paling further by each second.

"N-no."

He turned around, lifting his hands and clutched his hair as he tried to get a grip on himself. It was not a second later he peeled his hands off and stared at it in horror. His hands that were stained in blood.

"N-no no no- This can't be-"

"Caelum?" A familiar voice called out, faint, as he whipped his head over to the door. He stopped breathing all together as he stared at how pale and ill the blond woman looked. She covered , shaking slightly as she took a step back to stabilize herself. Noella and Naeva clutched onto her as they hid behind her, afraid and sobbing in fear.

He ran away through the back door and never looked back.

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Alaude was strolling around the village, scanning every corner and every building of the maze-like village. He felt nostalgic as nothing had changed much in the span of three years. It was as though time had stopped for these buildings. He couldn't say the same for the villagers, however. The familiar faces- as familiar as they could be- he had seen had changed so much. Not just physically but mentally as well. Who knew what had happened to them.

Which reminded him, how was Caelum? Had he grown taller and stronger? Had his voice and gaze change? Had he changed into someone else, or was he still the man Alaude knew?

Alaude shared a little private smile to himself for a second before shaking his head. 'No matter.' He would know once he finally sees the ginger.

As he continued his walk, weaving down the narrow streets that he knew by heart, he sensed another presence, noticed another silent footsteps that almost matched his. He didn't glance back, simply acted like he didn't realize his stalker. It wasn't Knuckle, no. Certainly not when said priest was unconscious in his house, Alaude's courtesy of course. (The man had passed out hours after the sun raised as they had sparred for almost the whole night.) Not to mention that Knuckle's presence was different from the one that was following him.

Not a threat either. Alaude was intrigued. For someone who's clearly a trained killer, a skilled one at that, to not have any ill intention towards Alaude was uncommon. (Not rare, but uncommon.)

He turned down one corner, well aware of the following footsteps, and whirled around, his familiar cuffs in hand and snapped one end on the wrist of his stalker. He didn't stop, using the momentum of his movement to pull the stalker, a man, in and push the man onto the wall. Shadow fell upon them as he shoved the man up the wall, eliciting a sharp intake of air. Alaude pulled at the other end of his cuff and locked the man's free hand onto his back before he could reach for the sword on his waist.

"Who are you?"

Alaude asked, face void of emotion. He absentmindedly made a mental list of ways he could maim the man if he was a threat after he interrogate him. He raised an eyebrow as he took in the uniform the man was wearing. "Capital Army." He said, suddenly felt bored. He didn't like dealing with the Capital. Their politics were complicated and more often than not involved none-morale activities despite what they had claimed.

Alaude found them very distasteful with they nose stuck up high and words as empty as their brains. Honestly, if Alaude wanted, he could actually wipe them out himself. They were all but useless vermin after all.

"What do you want?"

The man stayed quiet for a moment too long for Alaude's thinning patience. (He was lucky that Alaude was in a good mood or he wouldn't even have a chance to say another word the moment he started following Alaude.) "Signore Giotto," The man said. "I'm one of his men stationed in the Capital."

Alaude arched eyebrow raised even further. It wasn't a secret among the seven of them that Giotto had people in a few selected places, for who knows what. Heck even the man himself didn't even know why he had done all that most of the time. Though, Alaude knew for one that the blonde was wary of the Capital for some reason.

A potential threat, perhaps?

"Your proof?"

"The inner pocket of my jacket." Alaude reached over to the said pocket, but not before tightening the his grasp on the wrists with his left hand. A clear warning should the man do retaliate, he would be dead on the ground. He touched a solid object and pulled it out.

A marble.

Alaude rolled it on his palm a little when he felt it. Giotto's flames. It was faint, but there. Alaude had to say, Giotto had impromptu ways to show who were his people. Trinkets with his flames infused in them were one.

He hummed, confirming the fact that the man wasn't lying to him. He stepped back, unlocking the cuffs and let the man go. The man rubbed his wrist as he turned around to face Alaude, wordlessly taking the marble back. When Alaude crossed his arms across his chest and gave him a pointed look, he decided to cut the chase. "Signore Alaude, I'm Percy. I was stationed in Fitzgerald's army to monitor his movements."

Alaude stayed silent as he continued. "Just two days ago, before arriving here, he had-"

A gunshot rang out in the silent air. The beige-haired man turned to the direction of the sound.

Percy's eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. He cursed underneath his breath and managed to gather Alaude's attention. He straighten and with all seriousness, told Alaude about what Fitzgerald did. With haste, he jumped right to the point after a brief explanation. Alaude wasted not a single second before running off, closely followed by Percy.

"Signore Caelum is in grave danger."

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Alaude slowed down just a little and jumped up the porch of Caelum's house. He immediately picked up the stench of blood as he frowned at the blonde woman who wrapped her arms protectively around two young girls, all sobbing. (Oh, he recognize those girls. He knew them so well.) The woman tensed and looked at him warily even though she was crying.

"Who-" She croaked out just when her voice caught in when Alaude stepped forward and looked into the house. "Where is he?" He asked in such a deadly and urgent way that Azura couldn't help but jerk in fear. The girls in her arms, however, perked up at that and looked up.

"Alaude!" They all but launched at the beige-haired man, crying harder than before. Azura stiffen when he crouched slightly to embrace them. Her eyes were wide as she recognized the name. The cursed man of the village. The same man who killed his last living relative without a single remorse.

The same man that Caelum spoke of with such a fond look on his face.

"Noella, Naeva. Where's your brother?" Alaude asked again. The twins made a desperate sound and shook their heads, burying their faces into Alaude's abdomen.

"He ran away through the back door." Azura said. Alaude snapped his head to her and stared into her eyes for a full minute. He nodded at her in what she deemed as gratitude as he gently pried the twins off him. The moment he succeeded, Percy arrived, panting lightly. Alaude turned to him and gave a curt order before he ran off.

"Take care of them."

Percy saluted, a forced habit, perhaps, but it was unnoticed to the beige-haired man anyway. The twins immediately latched onto Azura again as she glared at Percy. The man knew why she was wary and hostile, so he raised his hands up to show that he meant no harm.

"Please, let us move to another place." He glanced at the massacre in the house. "This isn't a place we should stay any longer."

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Alaude ran to the meadows. It was the only place Alaude could think of. The meadows was a place of peace for the other, a place where Caelum would head to whenever he needed to hide from the world. 

However, it was no easy feat for Alaude to find Caelum. The meadows was huge, and so was the woods connecting to it. There was no telling where exactly Caelum went to, for the ginger had more than one hiding spot just in the meadows alone. (Caelum had this uncanny sense of finding hiding spots that no one would ever think of, which baffled Alaude more than once during their multiple ventures into the woods.) Alaude could only rely on his senses to find the ginger.

He clicked his tongue and ran into the woods when he felt something familiar.

Flames, he realized. There was a flame active person other than Alaude and Knuckle in the village. He narrowed his eyes. It was similar to Giotto's, but different. So much different from the blonde's flame. It wasn't Alaude's main priority at that moment, but it was distracting as hell. He would have to look into it after he finds Caelum and makes sure that he was alright.

As he ran deeper into the woods, he felt the flames getting more saturated. He had to cover his mouth and nose with his hand, his own flames lit a little just so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the flames in the air. It was thick and suffocating, heavy in the air as though a barrier to keep anyone out. It was protecting something, or someone.

Icy blue orbs widen by a fraction. 'Impossible.' And then he slowed to a stop, blinking away the fog in his eyes as he stared into the spot where the flames was the thickest. There sat the man he was looking for, all curled up underneath a huge tree and soaked in blood from head to toe in the midst of the flames.

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A/N= I wanted to title this as 'The Worst Reunion' but then I just- Nope no nope nope.

I don't know how to make the first part not as cringe-y, but what the hell, this is fanfiction. It's meant to be cringe-y. (Not exactly.)

I'm sure all of you know what the flame was. The first one anyway. :3 

Again, gore. No warning at all. I'm not sorry for this one actually.

Fun Fact= Fitzgerald and his men are dead, yes, but they're in.. Hell? Well okay then they're in Hell and Suffering. Fitzgerald just got an eternal life sentence of Hell and Suffering. Like Pain and Death and Blood and- you get what I meant. Caelum had subconsciously knew what he should do and gave them the heaviest punishment of all. (No thanks to you, Death and Judgement.)

Fun Fact= Azura's parents knew of Alaude's aunt and her bad temper. Almost everytime Alaude's aunt went to their shop for flowers, she'd curse Alaude and say bad things about him. They didn't really believe her, of course, but when Alaude's aunt was dead, they didn't know what to believe anymore. That is, until Caelum happened. (He practically changed their thought about Alaude with how excited he was whenever he spoke of the man.)

Fun Fact= Alaude, that fighting-maniac, he literally sparred with Knuckle all night long until dawn. Poor Knuckle, having to pass out because of exhaustion, and a damn fist hitting him right in the face. (Alaude left him on the couch and went to sleep until sun down and went out. Knuckle was still unconscious even when he left.)

Percy!! Yes, he's one of Giotto's. He was recruited when Giotto visited the Capital to research about something with Asari. At that time, he was a bartender. Giotto, one way or another, managed to attract him in. After a long interaction with Giotto, Percy agreed to his plan on being a spy and climbed his way up to the Right-Hand of one of the military generals. 

Percy was that attracted (read; infatuated) with Giotto because he decided to follow Giotto to the end of the world. OR SOMETHING ALONG THE LINE

So did anyone realize that Caelum lit his flames through guilt and the need to Suffer? No? Okay.

I hadn't actually wanted to update this early, but this chapter was getting to me a bit too much so I couldn't help it. Well, good for all of us..? 

[I apologize for any grammar, spelling, etc. etc. mistakes]